User blog:Philweasel/Game Concept - A Filly's Path
After you guys mistook me for someone awesome enough to actually create a game I was inspired to actually plan out one I’ve been thinking about for a while. I doubt I will ever actually find the time to make it, but I still wanted to show it to you guys. It’s a life simulator in the vein of Princess Maker and Academagia, following the fortunes of a young filly as she tries to make something of herself. You increase your stats through various jobs and opportunities, using them to lead into more advanced statistics and succeed at adventures, making friends along the way. The ultimate goal of the game is to get your cutie mark. You can choose an Earth, Pegasus or Unicorn pony, and hopefully all approaches will be equally valid. Want an Applejack or Rainbow Dash style character, with loads of physical power? Or a Twilight style powerful mage and academic? Or like Rarity and Pinkie Pie spend your time leveling up social skills? Each will have its own way of getting through adventures, and the route you take will influence your choice of cutie mark. I’ve decided to make your character a year or so older than the Mane 6, so the timeline starts before Cutie Mark Chronicles. The main departure I wanted to make from what’s out there (apart from the different genre) is I wanted to make the game visually simple. Sprites, simple backgrounds, a pretty spreadsheet but a spreadsheet none the less. I want each of the jobs to have its own little animation, like the Princess Maker series, and have lots of characters with their own visually appealing sprite. In essence I would rather cut down the amount of artistic resources so the ones we do have are good, and the depth of gameplay can be focused on. Adventures are still something that’s very much in the air. I’m thinking they will be mostly text based, with maybe some RPG like aspects where you can explore an area and dodge roaming monsters. Most of them will have multiple ways to win, for instance an adventure where you’re chasing a mysterious fabric thief can be achieved through high stamina, and more conclusively through high athletics. Alternatively you could try an Intelligence or Magic route, catching the thief in a different way. I was planning on having several different areas you can reside in. Right now my current plan is for everyone to start in Ponyville, with Canterlot opening up after a certain event. From that point you can travel between each at the cost of a couple days, and each has its unique characters and opportunities. Other locations can be visited for stat bonuses, though it costs time/money. (I did want to make Cloudsdale a full location, but that wouldn’t be fair on 2/3’s of the characters. It would likely end up as one of these) 'Attributes' These are core baseline stats, behind all the higher skills. Strength – Melee damage. Fatigue points. Agility – Cost of actions, Dodging. Stamina – Fatigue points. Spirit – Happiness points. Charisma – Social actions. Intelligence – Cost of spells. Happiness points. Scholarship – Linked to Intelligence. General learning stat. Common sense, general knowledge. Mostly useful for skill checks, keeping your parents happy. Astronomy – Linked to Intelligence and Spirit. Predicting, observing and understanding celestial phenomena. Leads to many opportunities for further stat and relationship gain. Farming – Linked to Stamina and Strength. Applebucking, plowing. One of the best money makers. Plants – Linked to Spirit and Intelligence. Finding, identifying and using rare plants. You can mix potions to cure sickness, restore happiness and fatigue, or sell them for bits. Magic – Linked to Spirit, but very hard to learn, grows slower than other talents. In unicorns allows casting of spells. Has other effects in the other two races. Dressmaking – Linked to Agility and Intelligence. Making clothes of all kinds. Matches with farming for pay. Athletics – Linked to Stamina, Strength and Agility. All kinds of physical disciplines. Social activities, competitions and other opportunities, but learning all the linked attributes may make you a musclehead! Cooking – Linked to Intelligence and Agility. Everything to do with cooking and baking. Social activities, competitions, a chance to make some bits. Adventuring – Linked to Agility and Stamina. Everything to do with travelling outside settlements. Allows you to travel more quickly, and spend more time on adventures. Parties – Linked to Charisma and Spirit. The skill of having a good time with others. Lots of social opportunities rely on this. Music – Linked to Charisma and Spirit. Singing, song writing, playing instruments. Lots of social opportunities, making bits. As mentioned, many of these skills open new opportunities. For instance. Parties Special 40 : Throw Party – “A small party for your friends is a great way to have fun.” Raises parties. Raises happiness. Drops Fatigue. 70 : Organise event – “It might be tiring, but with a bit of work you can put on an event no one will forget.” Raises Parties and Charisma. Raises Happiness a lot. Drops Fatigue. Opportunities – Poniville The Schoolhouse – “At least twice a week is recommended, or your parents might get upset.” Raises Scholarship. (Note: You can just not go. The results are predicable, though there should be an achievement for people who win anyway.) The Farm – Odd jobs around the farm are tiring, but you can get fit and earn a bit of money at the same time. Builds Stamina, occasionally gives a point of farming, and earn some bits. Drops fatigue. The Orchard – Fillies strong enough to help gather the apple harvest are always welcome. Needs a high strength and stamina, or a low farming. Builds farming, and earns good money. Drops fatigue and happiness. Berries’ Sundries – Berry is a firm but fair master, and is eager for a competent assistant to help make his clothes. Needs a high agility and intelligence, or a low dressmaking. Builds dressmaking, and earns good money. Drops fatigue and happiness. The Flower Fields – A little way outside Ponyville lies a beautiful flower orchard, a popular spot with all kinds of nature lovers. Builds spirit. Drops fatigue. The Autumn Path – The traditional route for the running of the leaves, it’s popular with those training for next year. Builds stamina, and occasionally athletics. Drops fatigue. The Autumn Path, mountains – This side road looks like a short cut, but its tough inclines make for hard going. Needs to be discovered. Needs high stamina, or low athletics. Builds Athletics. Drops fatigue. The Mountain Dojo – Learn the secrets of Celestia’s ninja assassins! Needs to be discovered. Raises agility. Drops fatigue and happiness. Lake Ponyville – Swimming is good for the body, and you may even find sunken treasure! Raises strength. Lowers fatigue. The Library – “Seldom used, but well stocked, a treasure trove for little minds.” Builds Intelligence. Drops happiness. The Library, astronomer’s corner – This hidden corner of the library is excellent for watching the stars. Needs to be discovered. Needs high Intelligence or low astronomy. Raises astronomy, drops happiness. The Library, Tomes of Magic – “Books of arcane knowledge! Perhaps...” Needs to be discovered. Chance to gain random points in astronomy, scholarship and magic. Drops happiness. Sugarcube Corner – Help out in Poniville’s finest bakery. Needs high Spirit and Agility, or low cooking. Builds cooking. Drops happiness and fatigue. Earns good money. Sugarcube Corner, function room – The place for any social gathering. Needs high Charisma and Spirit, or low Parties. Raises Parties. Lowers fatigue. Town square – Always packed with interesting people. Raises charisma. Drops happiness. Everfree forest outskirts – It’s not the forest itself, but rare flowers can still be found here. Needs high Spirit. Raises Plants. Drops happiness. Scrubland – Legend has that a great treasure is buried here somewhere. Needs high Agility and Stamina. Raises Adventuring. Lowers fatigue. Chance of finding some gems. Day off Day’s off are similar to opportunities, but don’t raise stats as much, can cost money, and mostly exist to regain happiness and fatigue. Relax at home – “A little boring” Raises happiness and fatigue a little. Browse Sugarcube Corner – “Something fun is always going on here, though it costs a little bit of money.” Raises happiness. Costs small amount of money. Visit the Apple Orchards – “Nothing like relaxing under the sun with some of Granny Apple’s treats” Raises Fatigue. Costs small amount of money. Visit the Lotus Spa – “Because you’re worth it” Needs to be discovered. Raises Fatigue a lot. Raises Charisma. Costs money. Attend one of Bon Bon’s Parties – “Bon Bon’s parties are legendary, though a present from guests is mandatory.” Raises Happiness a lot. Raises Parties. Costs money. Do these opportunities give skill points randomly, or is there some player skill involved? With the higher level abilities, what role do the base skills play in success? Put simply, I’m not sure yet. Personally I think adding some wretched half assed minigame just bogs things down, but minigames that aren’t half assed…? Friends You make friends by meeting someone first, which occurs at random in certain opportunities. Once you know them you are able to go on a new set of adventures, which might be multiple choice story based or adventures outside the city. Once all these adventures are complete you then count that character as a friend, and get special bonuses. Rarity – “Rarity might be young, but she already has an eye for fashion and beauty. As your friend she’s more than willing to share that taste and refinement.” +5 Maximum Dressmaking. New opportunity : Sew With Rarity – “You might be playing with crayons and scissors now, but one day you’ll be famous!” Raises Dressmaking, Agility. Bon Bon – “Bon Bon might be the most popular filly in Ponyville. Some of that has to have rubbed off on you.” +5 maximum Charisma. +5 maximum Parties. New ability : Free Guest Pass – “Some people would give their right hoof for free access to Bon Bon’s parties. And now it’s yours.” No longer need to pay to get into Bon Bon’s party. Yes, it’s skewed. I intend Bon Bon to be much harder to befriend than Rarity. I want friends to be a big part of the game, obviously. One thing I thought about was the ability to introduce friends to each other, leading to amusing little scenes. You definitively should get an achievement for introducing Bon Bon and Lyra, or Twilight and any of the Mane 6 (“Snake, you’ve created a time Paradox!”). And yes, I already intend Rarity to be a befriend option. Applejack and Twilight might well be too, though the other three might be pushing it. Achievements Everyone likes achievements. A Fluttershy achievement for making a Pegasus with high animal care and the stare ability (Oops, spoilers!), Stare Master for getting the stare ability in the first place, Friendship is Magic for getting six friends, Cutie Mark Crusader for having four friends without cutie marks, Cloud Walker for getting to Cloudsville with an Earth Pony, Precocious for making friends with an adult pony… Category:Blog posts